Does it Matter?
by Pachelbel
Summary: Darth Vader disposes of Darth Sidious in order to become Emperor. His first act as God: raising his son. Finished
1. Chapter One

Author's Notes: Okay, this was a dream I had. I need to sort it out. If this doesn't weird you out too much, in the second chapter is where I tie it into fanfiction.

  
  
  
  


The man paced, back and forth, his boots (classic, soft black leather boots) whispered on the nondescript floor. White; that's what the floor was, and dusty. The walls-if there were any-were so white, they had the impression of infinite distance. The ceiling was presented as the sky, painted that way, a sunset locked in time. It was ominous, being so close to it in some places.

That man, dressed in a white shirt that managed, somehow, to stand out against the brilliant background, stopped pacing. The chair was uncomfortable, the way all hard metal fold-up chairs are when you've been sitting an hour too long. There seemed to be a small, wooden, rounded table immediately next to the chair, but without the ability to turn your head, there was no way to tell.

It was unimportant anyway. The man held out a weapon. The knife was an ordinary kitchen knife, and yet the 6-inch silver blade, offset by black plastic, was so warmly beautiful.

Ah...it seemed that, along with the inability to look to the sides, it was impossible to look up at the man's face. He existed from the shoulders down, unwelcome and inspiration for caution, until that knife was held out.

A smile, but not from the man, as the knife is accepted. Smiling at the silver, smiling at the man, aware of the comfortable black pants, aware of the one thought I shouldn't do this; it's wrong;

and the knife, held in my right hand, is stabbed into my left thigh (sitting on this uncomfortable chair was useful after all), pulled back, and then changed to the left hand. Stabbing down into my thigh again, up, smiling, down, a new place, near the knee, up by the hip, more to the left, feeling not pain, but the weight of the blade, stabbing; it hits bone, almost every time, and I pull it back to find a new, unscarred place.

And the man paces. He's content. He's waiting.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimers: George! He owns them (Anakin, Amidala, Obi-Wan, and Luke and Leia and whoever else)! Not me... then again...they'd run away, if I did own them. I'm really, really mean to characters. 

Author's Notes: WOW! You kept reading? *gives you a round of grateful applause* I promise, this fic won't be all masochism. True, I'm not into happy endings (actually, I like reading them, yet I've never written one), but who knows with this one. It's my "experiment" fic! First time for lots of things in this one! (Some First Person, no mapped-out ending, centered around...Anakin?!? WHAT??? I've really fallen off my rocker now...) 

  
  


Amidala gave Obi-Wan a strange look. A mix between sorrow and gratitude? "Does it hurt?"

He shook his head. "It's fine," he assured her softly. He knew that his cuts and bruises were pretty far from being at the top of her concerns. But that was Ami; her friends were important, and she would say or do anything, no matter how small, to let them know that.

"How is he?" she whispered. Obi-Wan gauged how much to tell her.

"He'll recover." the invisible shoulder angels (and Amidala's inquisitive brown eyes) forced him to go on. "I didn't do much to him. When I fought him...he..." Obi-Wan looked up as a doctor exited Anakin's room. "Doctor?"

"He'll be fine, hopefully. He's still asleep, thank the Force."

Amidala looked from Obi-Wan to the doctor. "Tell me what, exactly, happened to him."

"I was about to ask Master Kenobi the same thing." Doctor Joel sat down on the short table in front of them. "He fought a Jedi Knight, so naturally he's pretty banged up-bruises and small cuts on his arms and face, a few light saber burns. Aside from that, he had several deep wounds in his left thigh. That caused some pretty severe muscle damage, but here's where I get lost. They weren't caused by a light saber. And I have trouble believing you did it to him. Aside from the fact that you, Master Kenobi, would probably not stab him sixteen times in the leg before dragging him to a hospital, the wounds are about a week old."

Amidala had tensed, paled, but she refused to break down. Not here. "When can I see him?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Doctor Joel shook his head. Amidala granted him a Look; one befitting an irate Queen, one capable of turning blood to ice. "Unless you want to right now, while he's asleep."

Amidala stood up, even as he finished his sentence, and moved gracefully to Anakin's door.

It was locked tight as a precaution for when he did wake up. Obi-Wan reached past her and typed in his access code.

The door slid open, and Amidala uneasily moved to the foot of the tall hospital bed. Anakin was covered by a lightweight green blanket, his head propped up by several firm pillows.

He laughed. Amidala jumped at the sound, but quickly suppressed it as Anakin turned his head to look at her.

"Hello, Padme." His voice was so ghostlike, so harsh, so alien to her ears. She had been waiting, perhaps subconsciously, to hear his voice again...and here he was, so changed, it was like a blow. "What?" he smirked. "Planning to tell me something while I was comatose? Disappointed, angel?"

Angel. Her nickname; like acid. "No," she said steadily, but couldn't find the words to go on. "Ani-"

"Shut up!" her heart broke, hearing him yell at her again. When she was silent for a few seconds, he smiled at her. "So. Tell me; how are you enjoying life now?"

She didn't think of the twins. She didn't think of their marriage. Obi-Wan had warned her of such things when Anakin had gone missing.

He scoffed at her. "I can't believe you have nothing to say. Calling you here was a mistake."

"You didn't call me here, Ani," she told him lowly.

"No, of course not. I forgot; you're invincible when you're with him."

"Isn't that the stupid assumption you made when you left me!?" Amidala yelled at him.

Anakin gazed at her for a moment, surprised, but then a cocky smile spread across his young face. 

Amidala grew cold inside. He's feeding off of my anger... 

She turned to the door, wishing it would simply open and let her leave. But of course it automatically locked when shut. And she almost wanted to run to Obi-Wan, let him hold her, let him make this better. But Anakin would only see it as proving him right.


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimers: They...all...belong...to...GL-man himself!

  
  


Chapter Three

"Luke," Amidala called. There was a sweetness in her voice, the kind people only adopt when they have a child under their care.

The tiny blond baby looked at her, brightening the dismal week with a toothless grin. Eventually, her son would have to disappear. Obi-Wan would take him, watch over him, protect him. That fact made their inevitable separation a fraction more bearable.

  
  


So, Amidala loved Obi-Wan. Oh well. It hardly seemed to matter now, when there were so many other things to do. I had so much to look forward to, didn't I?

My leg throbbed, a reminder of what I had done to myself.

Such a pleasant dream. This time, it had been a vision of my Master's death. No longer would I be a servant to such a miserable, wrinkled weakling. Darth Sidious? Weak? Perhaps not; only when in comparison to myself. The Chosen One.

In a heavily secured hospital wing, there isn't much to do. I could no longer sense Ami or...him...out in the hall. A few large guards, but they didn't have the strength of mind they would need to keep me from escaping.

I limped over to the door and leaned against the frame. Yes; there were two massive guards out there. I wrenched their minds into my control. "Open the door."

They stumbled over each other in their haste, but finally it was unlocked. I hoisted the two men up onto their toes, without moving an inch. "Where is Senator Naberrie?"

"Senatorial Chambers, room...155," one answered monotonously.

I let them drop, not envying them the headaches they would wake up to.

  
  


"Senator Skywalker!" Amidala rose from her place on the floor, where she had been playing with her two children, and let the guard in. "Anakin has escaped. We're setting up additional teams on this floor and around the building."

"Have you told Obi-- Master Kenobi?"

"We sent someone over to the Jedi Temple. Here's a com; if you notice anything, press that button there, and we'll come."

Amidala sighed as the door shut after the guard. She looked down at the small, black com and shook her head. Then the shutters-each one in the three-room chamber-swung shut. Simultaneously.

She spun around, instinctively looking for the danger nearest to her children. Anakin was sitting in a chair facing her, looking perfectly relaxed. "Who are these?" he cooed at the twins.

Amidala choked on the words 'Get out'. "Luke and Leia," she murmured. Anakin, if she hadn't told him, would likely have plucked it from her mind anyway.

He painfully lowered himself to the floor, gingerly stretched out his left leg, and watched the two babies. Luke looked up at him, babbled something, and attempted to push himself up off the floor and onto his hands and knees. Instead he fell back, to try again a few minutes from now.

"Aw, learning to crawl's so difficult, isn't it?" Anakin smiled. "What about you, Leia? Are you a princess?" he held out a gloved hand to the two month old girl. She swatted it, then grabbed his index finger and examined the exquisite black leather.

Anakin raised his eyes to Amidala, and then to the hand that clutched the tiny alarm. "Are you going to press it? Call your lover to come throw me out?"

"How many times do we have to do this?" she felt as if centuries had come crashing down upon her shoulders.

"Until you stop denying it?" he glared at her. "Why do you continue to deny what I saw?"

"Anakin, I've told you, I'm sorry! It was nothing-"

"Yes, and that's what the two of you were doing, is it?"

"It was just a stupid...mistake! I love you, and part of you can't possibly doubt it!"

"Really. So tell me; are these his spawn, or not?" he was surprised by the hot, bubbling anger that remark rose in her.

"They're yours," her voice shook, but not from tears. "They could not be his."

"How do I know that?"

  
  


But even as I said it, I touched Luke's mind, and that was how I knew. His sister, Leia, was also mine; so much like her mother already.

Ami saw the change, somehow. She could always tell what I felt.

No. I was wrong; she couldn't know what I was feeling. Beneath the joy at seeing these two infants, there was something she could never understand. I am the Chosen One. With my Master, we will ultimately bring down the Jedi, and the Republic she represents.

And whether or not these two were mine, she still betrayed me.

I gently pulled my hand away from my daughter and stood up. "Good bye, Amidala. Call the guards if you wish; I'm sure I will meet them outside anyway."

Without another glance, I brushed past her, careful not to limp too noticeably, and threw open the door.

The guards were all weak-willed, far too disciplined for their own good. The crumpled as I passed, a twisted sort of bow before my power.


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimers: *lines up the characters in this story* Mr. Lucas, can you identify these characters? Yes? Okay, then, they're all yours.

Author's Notes: Wow! This is a short book, isn't it? Well...okay...consider it a *short* story! :o) Yes, there will be a sequel...how can I resist? hehe. *ponders the new directions*

For some reason, italics don't show up on my stories anymore. Gah! And I'm beta-less. So don't hesitate to point out my mistakes! PLEASE point out my mistakes. 

  
  


Does It Matter When We Bleed?

  
  


Obi-Wan held Luke Skywalker close, shielding him from the biting wind, praying the child would remain silent.

He wasn't sure why he felt so uneasy. Amidala had called him, explained that Anakin had escaped...and had come to see her. They'd decided to hide the children immediately.

  
  


"Stay with him," I said dryly. We'd been following my former Master for a while now. He seemed to know he was being followed, that was the problem. But all the backtracking in the world couldn't keep me from my son.

But first, I had to ensure his place on the throne.

The half dozen Imperial guards-Sidious called them Storm troopers, but to me, they were little more than clones of expandable crew members-nodded obediently. I turned back to my Master's apartment complex.

I snorted in disgust; a Sith Lord, about to become Emperor of the entire galaxy...living in an apartment. He said it offered privacy, made him appear more humble than the other Senators. Who needed that when no one dared complain?

And no one would dare complain about me. I would offer no public face; the public would see and fear me for what I truly was.

Darth Sidious doubted me. He knew I was prone to violence (he had, after all, seen what I did to myself...though that would have to stop once I had Luke). He didn't truly believe in my cunning. Oh, but I do.

I hacked into the largest holonews network. I sent in the various conversations he had shared with me over the past year-omitting my own replies, for now. I felt the shock of the Coruscant citizens.

I waited until the police arrived to arrest him, and helped them to subdue the old man, all the while remaining hidden above on a neighbor's balcony. Palpatine certainly knew what I was doing; but he hadn't realized how far I had come in the ways of the Force. He was too surprised, and too strangled for oxygen, to launch any attacks against the police.

"Farewell, Master," I breathed as he was dragged away to be executed as a traitor. I would be grateful to him for what he had taught me, always. But he had outlived his usefulness.

Now to find my son.

  
  


"Tell me, Obi-Wan," Anakin slowly stepped into the ring of light under a street lamp. "How much do you care for my wife?"

"More than you do," he answered softly after a long moment spent watching Darth Vader and the various white armored guards.

"Truly." the blond Sith Lord stopped. "Then hand over the child."

"Never."

"I won't hurt my own son, Kenobi. Give him to me and Amidala will go free." he glared at the Jedi Master. "And you will be with her."

"What do you think she'd want?"

"Does it matter?" Anakin shook his head slightly. "I think the question you should be asking yourself is, 'Can I live with myself knowing I'm responsible for the death of another woman I loved'."

That hit hard. Anakin didn't smile; nothing broke that dismaying confidence on his hardened, still boyish face.

"Why haven't you taken Leia?" Obi-Wan softly broke the stifling quiet.

"That is none of your business," the Sith Lord snarled. "But since you ask, I may as well point out how bad I would be for her. Ami...Padme will help her. As I'm sure you will."

That wasn't entirely true, Obi-Wan knew. Luke was far more Force sensitive than his twin. "I'm tired of this," Vader snapped. He reached out one hand towards the Jedi.

Obi-Wan looked towards the Senate. Reluctantly, he stepped forward and presented Luke Skywalker to the most dangerous man in the known galaxy.

  
  


Oh, yes, Master. I know what you think. "Save the Queen now, rescue the prince later." 

But that won't work. "Will it, Luke?" I gaze down at my son. He is a tiny blond cherub, sleeping peacefully in my arms, born to rule, and as of this moment the most powerful child alive. 

Yes. The child who belongs with me.


End file.
